The Neuchâtel Xamax Sentinel
The terraces29 May 2028
Supporters organise against the Neuchâtel Xamax board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom29 May 2028
Pressure builds in the Neuchâtel Xamax boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market29 May 2028
Anas Bakhat puts it in writing
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Neuchâtel Xamax, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 May 2028
Words exchanged at Neuchâtel Xamax
Cédric Brunner and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad29 May 2028
A row about effort at Neuchâtel Xamax
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anas Bakhat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 May 2028
Tjorben Uphoff is not the player he was
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Boardroom29 May 2028
The numbers do not look good at Neuchâtel Xamax
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The dugout29 May 2028
Facundo Molina gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout29 May 2028
Jonathan de Donno knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Neuchâtel Xamax, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
- The dugout Paulo Henrique gets picked when it counts
- The dugout Yoan Epitaux has been promised minutes
- Squad Dixon Vera is not doing himself any favours